A Pink BracketBuster 3: The Stakes are Raised
by PRWASeasonTwo
Summary: The return of the Pink BracketBuster series. This time, the winner between Tommy and Kim has a secret to tell, and some new and improved prizes are at stake!
1. Selection Sunday Reaction

A/N: Yes, Pink BracketBuster is back for Season #3, although under a different username. Hello, my friends, this is TommyOliverMMPRFan (albeit under a different pen name), and welcome to my rendition of my man psav2005's classic series A Pink BracketBuster. All your old Power Ranger friends are indeed back for another year of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness – as the smack goes to fever pitch before this tournament and the stakes are raised even higher, with the prizes greater than ever before. I am honored to be the next in line to work on this classic series, and I hope you enjoy my rendition.

A/N 2: Just to remind everyone of which one is affiliated with which school, and to christen the arrival of two old friends into the PBB series, let's take a quick rundown

UCLA: Tommy, Jason, Rocky, Aisha

USC: Zack, Trini, Adam, Tanya

Stanford: Billy, Kat, Justin, Ethan, Hayley

UNLV: Ashley, Andros, Zhane, Karone

Long Beach State: Conner

Nevada: Trent, Kira

Oregon: Carlos, Cassie

Washington State: TJ

Florida: Kim

Cornell: Dr. Mercer

St. Mary's: Principal Randall

Gonzaga: Crystal Miller (TJ's other)

San Diego: Chelsea Matthews (Conner's other)

Cal State-Fullerton: Jen Jackson (Ethan's other)

Brigham Young: Lindsey Greer (Justin's other)

Other schools making first time appearances:

Syracuse: Ernie (class of 1987)

Arizona State: Lt. Jerome Stone (class of 1984)

Oklahoma: Hayley's favorite team growing up

Duke: Conner's favorite team growing up

A/N 3: I own nothing. See psav2005's first two stories for the owners of everything. He owns Crystal, Jen, Lindsey and Chelsea.

Chapter 1 - Selections and Reaction

Sunday, March 15, 2009

3:00 p.m. PDT

Hayley's Cyberspace Café

Reefside, CA

At first glance inside the Cyberspace Café this Sunday afternoon, you'd have thought a rock concert was going on.

But as CBS Sports' annual NCAA Basketball Selection Show – the show that makes and breaks hearts of many collegiate basketball student athletes around the country – got underway this Sunday, all you could hear was one incessant, unrelenting chant from four different raucous fans of the USC Trojans.

"USC! USC! USC! USC! USC! USC! USC! USC!" chorused Adam Park, Tanya Sloan-Park, Zachary Taylor and Trini Kwan as the show got underway. It was so loud you could barely hear CBS Sports' Greg Gumbel speak on the television.

"Good evening everyone, and welcome to our New York studios and CBS Sports as we begin our coverage of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball tournament with the tournament's official Selection Show," Gumbel said, although you wouldn't have known it from the voices of the four Trojan fans that were in the house that night.

They were still high off their Pac-10 tournament championship win over Arizona State, the game that had put the Trojans in the tournament. And if it was up to them, they wouldn't stop yelling. That is, until the youngest Power Ranger in history, and a Stanford graduate, finally stood up.

"QUIET!" Justin Stewart bellowed. Instantly, everyone in the house became silent, Hayley giving a quick nod of thanks to her fellow Stanford graduate.

"You know, not all of us can be in the tournament although that doesn't seem to matter to you," Justin said. "But if you want to hear who your team is playing I highly suggest you shut up! None of us can hear because of you stupid Trojans yelling for the last 30 minutes!"

"Uh, guys, I think he's right," Tanya said. "We do want to know who USC is playing and who UCLA's going to get beat by, right?"

"Yeah, we should probably shut up. For now," Adam said. "After all we do need to know who UCLA's going to get beat by."

As he said this, he grinned at the four UCLA Bruin fans. All that earned him was a series of death glares and Dr. Thomas Oliver mouthing, "Shut up, frog boy."

This seemed to please Adam, as he grinned and mouthed, "Don't make me come over there, good doctor."

With that, the tensions quieted and everyone focused his or her eyes on the television where the CBS crew was getting ready to reveal the four top seeded teams for the tournament.

"And now we know that the top overall seed is the Louisville Cardinals."

Most nodded their assent – that was no surprise to the masses in the Café, especially to Ernie, who had just seen his Syracuse team beaten by Louisville the previous evening.

"Gonna be tough to beat," Andros muttered as Gumbel went on talking, " don't know about the rest of you."

"And now we know that Louisville will be headed to the Midwest Region. The second overall Number 1 seed is the Pittsburgh Panthers. They will be playing in the East Region. The third Number 1 seed is the North Carolina Tar Heels, who will be playing in the South Region. And the fourth and final Number 1 seed is the UConn Huskies, who will be playing in the West Region," Gumbel said.

Glances went around the group as the four #1 seeds were revealed.

"Hmmm, ya think they obsess about the Big East much, maybe? 3 overall #1 seeds seems a bit much," Rocky said.

"Rocky, careful man, remember we have a Syracuse graduate in the house," Jason said, as he glanced over at Ernie, who would be partaking in the contest that year.

"All I can say," Aisha said as she sipped a Diet Coke, "is that I hope the Bruins draw a Big East team sometime in the tournament. Then we can shut them all up."

"Actually, I much rather prefer an ACC team," Tommy said. "Listening to Dick Vitale on ESPN hype that conference up nauseates me."

"Now there's one thing we can all agree on," Adam said. "I HATE that guy. Does he even know that basketball is played west of North Carolina?"

"Quiet, show's back on!" said Kim, who hadn't spoken until now.

"Welcome back to our New York studios as we begin to reveal the seedings and the pairings," Gumbel said, "and we begin with the tournament brackets from the NCAA and its corporate champion CocaCola. We start with the Midwest Region – these are games played Friday and Sunday in Dayton, Ohio, and as we said the #1 seed in the Midwest, the overall #1 seed the Louisville Cardinals out of the Big East conference. They will play the winner of the opening round game Tuesday night in Dayton between Alabama State and Morehead State…Moving on, #8 Ohio State Buckeyes just completed winning the Big 10 Conference (tournament) championship…they'll go up against the Siena Saints, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament winners, the Siena Saints, an 8/9 matchup. Now, in Miami, first and second round action Friday and Sunday. The fifth seeded Utes of Utah…" this proclamation earned a snarl from Lindsey Greer, Justin's beloved. The BYU/Utah rivalry was a fierce one indeed, and it didn't help that Lindsey was from Salt Lake City, where a lot of her friends growing up were Utes fans.

"…who are they gonna play, they're up against the Arizona Wildcats out of the Pac-10…"

Now it was Stone's turn to snarl. "Curse that U of A. Curse that school. This was supposed to be the year they didn't make the tourney!" he grumbled under his breath. Another hot rivalry was rearing its ugly head – the Duel in the Desert, a heated yearly battle between Arizona and Arizona State, schools situated approximately 90 minutes apart on Arizona's Interstate 10.

At this, Lindsey smiled at the mid-40s Arizona State graduate lieutenant.

"It sounds like we get to root against our rivals right off the bat," she said.

"Yes, and isn't that fun. Both our nemeses are squaring off in the first round. We need to get together so I can inform you on why I don't like U of A and get your take on why you don't like the Utes," Stone said.

"You know you can come over anytime you want," Justin said. "Door's always open."

Stone nodded as the attention turned back to the television.

"All right the #4 seed in the Midwest Region, the Demon Deacons out of Wake Forest out of the ACC…and who do they meet…#13 out of the Horizon League, the Vikings of Cleveland State…they upset nationally ranked and heavily favored Butler in the Horizon League final to earn a trip to the NCAA tournament…"

Everyone was waiting for someone's team to be revealed. They didn't have long to wait.

"Now, the bottom half of the bracket. These games to be played Friday and Sunday in Minneapolis, #2 seed Michigan State, out of the Big 10, the Spartans, the regular season Big 10 champions…Tom Izzo's team, who will they meet? How about the Colonials of Robert Morris, out of the Northeast – they won the season's NEC tournament title, Robert Morris, 24-10 up against the Spartans. The #7 seed out of the ACC, the Eagles of Boston College, fine year, 22-11, and they will meet, coming out of the Pac-10, the USC Trojans…"

That was all that was needed to detonate another round of incessant, "USC! USC! USC! USC! USC! USC" chants from the four Trojan fans in the house.

It was a wonder that the rest of the group could even concentrate on the four remaining teams to be revealed. As it turned out, West Virginia would be playing Dayton in the 6 vs. 11 matchup and Kansas would be playing North Dakota State in the 3 vs. 14 matchup, but that didn't matter to the USC family.

"Ha and I like the draw too!" Zack smirked.

"Yep, better yet, we get to beat an ACC school too so we can shut up Vitale," Trini said. "Then it's off to beat another Big 10 school – just like football."

As CBS went to a commercial break, Tommy couldn't help but look at his Trojan friends, and his fellow Bruin fans, with a rueful smile. He had warned his fellow Bruin fans and his Trojan friends the previous Friday before the teams played in the Pacific 10 tournament semifinal in LA.'s Staples Center that it was hard to beat a team three times in one year. UCLA had won the first two meetings in the regular season but sure enough, the Trojans won the conference tournament game 65-55, and of course, went on to capture the tournament crown and advance to college basketball's ultimate tournament.

"Welcome back to the NCAA Basketball championship selection show, here's a look at the tournament brackets from the NCAA and its corporate champion AT&T, and here is the West Region. These games to be played in Philadelphia on Thursday and Saturday – the top seeds, the Connecticut Huskies, and yeah, the Connecticut Huskies of Jim Calhoun came out of the West TWICE to win their national titles – out of the Big East, who are they gonna play? How about the (Moccasins) of Chattanooga, the Southern Conference Tournament Champions. They won the tournament title, they are 18-16 on the year and they draw the UConn Huskies," Greg Gumbel said.

Little did anyone know that another PBB particpant's team was about to be announced.

"The number 8 seed, BYU, from the Mountain West, they shared the Mountain West regular season title, and the Cougars will meet – the Aggies of Texas A&M from the Big 12, Coach Mark Turgeon makes it two tournaments in two seasons at Texas A&M," Gumbel said.

At this, Lindsey sighed. It was déjà vu all over again. The year previous, the Cougars had met the Aggies in another 8 seed vs. 9 seed battle and lost. So now, would come the rematch.

"If it's any consolation," Justin said as he turned to his girlfriend and kissed her, "I feel BYU has a much better chance this time around against A&M."

"Really?" Lindsey said as she turned to him and smiled.

"Really, I do," Justin said. "BYU's played some good teams and gone toe-to-toe with good teams. I think your Cougars are better than A&M this time around. I actually think BYU can go deep – might beat UConn too."

"I agree with him," Ashley said, "The Rebels beat them twice but I don't know how they did it – in or not we're not close to a tournament team this year. BYU on the other hand is a really good team."

"Oh, how I so want to go to Glendale to watch my Cougars in the second weekend," Lindsey said – referring to the place BYU would be headed for the second weekend of action if they could beat A&M and, most likely, Connecticut.

As it turned out, the other two pairings in the top half of the bracket were rather mundane, with Purdue taking on Northern Iowa in a 5 vs. 12 matchup while Washington would take on the surprising winners of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Mississippi State in a 4 vs. 13 matchup. Both of those games would be in Portland. That announcement only raised some eyebrows with Carlos and Cassie, both Oregon Ducks fans who had suffered through a tremendously bad basketball season.

"I dunno, I'm thinking about going up to Portland and cheering against Washington, how about you sweetie?" Carlos said

"Maybe, if another of the schools in this group gets called to Portland, I might consider driving them up – we own some property in Portland," Cassie said.

"Sounds good," Carlos said.

The first two pairings in the bottom half were rather mundane also. In Kansas City on Thursday and Saturday, it would be the California Golden Bears of the Pacific 10 conference taking on the Maryland Terrapins of the Atlantic Coast Conference in a 7 vs. 10 matchup. Meanwhile, Memphis, the second seeded team in this region, would be taking on Cal-State Northridge, a local school and the Big West conference tournament champion for that season. The only reaction this got was the five Stanford fans scowling at the notion that Cal-Berkeley would be playing in the tournament and that Stanford wouldn't.

Soon, however another PBB participant was to get called.

"All right first and second round games now on Friday and Sunday out in Boise, Idaho. The #3 seeded Missouri Tigers, conference tournament winners, Coach Mike Anderson, Missouri won its first EVER Big 12 tournament title. They will meet the 14 seed Big Red (of Cornell), Ivy League Champions, making their second straight NCAA appearance," Greg Gumbel said.

That elicited the first groan amongst the group, this one coming from Dr. Mercer.

"Another year, another tough matchup," Anton sighed. "It sucks because the Big Red is facing a team that I think could go to the Final Four. Not good."

The final matchup revealed in this bracket was a 6 vs. 11 matchup between the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Aggies of Utah State.

As CBS went to another commercial, the final matchup was a matchup which, again, raised an eyebrow from Lindsey – who knew Utah's college basketball landscape very, very well.

"I sense Lindsey thinks there could be an upset here," Kim said.

"Yes. Utah State is very, very well coached," Lindsey said. "I saw some of Coach Stu Morrill's teams when I was at BYU. They play EVERYBODY tough in this tournament."

After a short commercial break, CBS revealed the East Region. The top half of the bracket drew little interest from the rooting audience, as it was announced that, in Dayton this coming Friday and Sunday, Pittsburgh would be playing East Tennessee State in a 1 seeded vs. a 16 seeded matchup, Oklahoma State would be playing Tennessee in an 8 seed vs. 9 seed game, and that in Boise Florida State would be playing Wisconsin in a 5 seed vs. 12 seed matchup and that Xavier would be playing Portland State in a 4 seed vs. 13 seed matchup.

The only reaction this drew from the crowd was a snarl from Kimberly at the announcement that Florida State was in as a #5 seed.

"Damn those Florida State criminals. Damn them," Kimberly groused.

"I didn't know you Gators hated Florida State – thought it was always Georgia?" Tanya said.

"No they don't hate Georgia worse," Tommy said. "Believe me, I know. I know some Gators here in Southern California in addition to Kim. They all hate Florida State worse than Georgia. Florida/Georgia is bad, but Florida State's their bitter enemy."

"Correct," Kim said, smiling at her husband as the attention was turned back to the television. As it turned out, that was a good thing because…

"Now, Thursday/Saturday games in Greensboro, North Carolina – and the #2 seed the Duke Blue Devils, winners today of the ACC conference tournament…who will Duke meet? The Binghamton Bearcats, winners of the America East conference tournament, they won it, they go to their first ever NCAA tournament. The #7 seed in the East, the Texas Longhorns. The winningest coach in Texas history is Rick Barnes – fifth team out of the Big 12, they will meet the fifth team out of the Big Ten, the Minnesota Golden Gophers…Now, Thursday/Saturday games in Philadelphia. The #3 seed Villanova Wildcats…now, who do they get to meet? Out of the Patriot League, the Eagles of American University, conference tournament winners in the Patriot League, the Eagles won the regular season and league tournament title. Now, the sixth seed and the fifth team out of the Pac-10 – the UCLA Bruins, top shooting team in the nation, an NCAA record 11 national titles to their credit, and they will meet the VCU Rams from the Colonial League, third straight regular season title, they captured the conference tournament championship for the second time in three seasons."

With that announcement, as well as the possibility that the Bruins would play Big East representative Villanova (in their home city of Philadelphia no less), the Bruin faithful were slapping Aisha on the back.

"Well, you got what you wanted. Maybe," Rocky said.

"Yep. A chance to beat a Big East team in their own backyard," Aisha said.

"I like the draw too. I've seen Villanova and us and I think we can beat them," Jason said. "Who's up for going to Philadelphia to watch our Bruins?"

"I'm in, bro. You know that," Tommy said. "Just let me call one of my anthropology colleagues in Philadelphia. He can probably score us tickets. Aisha, Rocky, you want to join us?"

"No. Thanks," Aisha said, definitively. "I went to law school on the East Coast after I got out of UCLA. I do NOT care to go into Philadelphia. Those fans are VORACIOUS. You men do what you want, but I'm not going."

"Where she goes, I go," Rocky said.

"Suit yourselves," Jason said. "Come on, bro. Let's go contact your colleague."

Nobody had noticed, until CBS had gone to a commercial break, that Conner had been applauding while the UCLA exchange was going on.

"Uh, Conner?" Hayley said. "You seem to be – quite happy about something."

"That's right," Conner said. "That's because my Blue Devils are going ALL THE WAY this year! Let's Go DUKE!"

At this proclamation, every single head in the room dropped, except for Conner's girlfriend Chelsea, who turned to face him.

"I thought you went to Long Beach?" she hissed.

"Yeah, but Chelsea, you know I've been a Duke fan since 1991, when I was five years old. I've seen a lot of good teams, some underachieving teams, some mediocre teams, and championship teams. I REALLY like this team's draw this year. You just saw us win the ACC tournament, which that OTHER school in North Carolina couldn't do – they couldn't even beat Florida State! Duke all the way this year!"

"And this…is what I hate about Duke," Ernie sighed.

"All I can as an Oklahoma and Stanford fan Conner," Hayley said as she glared at him, "is that your Blue Devils better beat the crap out of Texas in the second round. I hate the University of Texas with my whole body, soul and mind as an OU fan, not to mention they beat Stanford last year in the tourney."

"Consider it done," Conner said. "Texas can't stay on the same floor with us, and especially not in our backyard."

"It better be – unless you want to be working for me at Cyberspace sometime in the future," Hayley said. "Just beat Texas and you're off the hook."

Just as the two finished this conversation, the show came back from commercial to reveal the bracket for the South Region.

As the show came back, Rocky looked at the faces around the room, and saw some interesting facial expressions. Rocky looked over at Elsa and saw tension all over her face – this was it. Either they would be in this region or they would fall short of the tournament. Kim was uptight too, as her Florida squad was essentially in the same situation.

Others were resigned to their teams fates. Washington State and Oregon were out, as were most of the other schools that those inhabiting the Cyberspace were fans of.

Meanwhile, Hayley and Ernie were sharing looks as Oklahoma and Syracuse fans. Was it possible that their teams (or, in Hayley's case, second favorite close behind Stanford) would meet before the Final Four?

Ernie and Stone were sharing looks as well. Was that even possible too, that Arizona State and Syracuse could meet before the Final Four?

And all the while, Crystal the Gonzaga fan was resting her head on TJ's shoulder, now knowing what bracket her team would be involved in as Gonzaga had earned a berth to the tournament with their conference tournament title.

The first two pairings were of little interest to the denizens of the Cyberspace, as North Carolina would be playing Radford in a 1 seed vs. a 16 seed game and Louisiana State (LSU for short) would be playing Butler in an 8 seed vs. 9 seed game, both in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The other part of the top half of the bracket, however, was a different story.

"Moving down the list, Thursday/Saturday games in Portland, Oregon. The #5 seed Fighting Illini out of Illinois, the Big 10's sixth team into the tournament, coached by Bruce Weber, who will they meet? The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky, Sun Belt conference tournament champions, and they're all about getting after the Fighting Illini…Moving on down, from the West Coast Conference, the Bulldogs of Gonzaga, #4 seed, coach Mark Few makes it ten NCAA tournament appearances in his ten seasons at Gonzaga, he will take on Mid-American Conference tournament winner Akron, the Zips won the Mid-American conference (tournament), they are 23-12 and they are the #13 seed in the South."

At this announcement, Crystal was aroused.

"Great draw for your team, honey," TJ said as he kissed her.

"Really?" Crystal said.

"Yeah. None of the teams in those four are that good," TJ said. "I almost hate to say it as a Coug, but I think Gonzaga has a walk to the round of 16. Don't know if you guys can beat North Carolina but I think you'll at least get there."

"If we get to UNC I say bring on all comers," Crystal said.

"What's more, I'll even take you to Portland so we can both cheer your Zags and root against Washington," TJ said.

"I love you sweetie," Crystal said as she kissed her boyfriend. "That's one thing we'll always have in common is that we both root against that snobby school in Seattle. But I just want to know what the hell is a Zip?"

"You got me there," TJ said.

"Now, Thursday/Saturday games in Kansas City, Missouri," Gumbel said, snapping them all back to attention. "The #2 seed in the South, the Oklahoma Sooners. Coach Jeff Capel and his player of the year Blake Griffin, the sixth team out of the Big 12, and they will face the 15th seeded Bears of Morgan State, the conference tournament winners in the MEAC, Coach Todd Bozeman gets his Morgan State team into the tournament. The number 7 seed in the South, the Clemson Tigers, the seventh team out of the ACC, Oliver Purnell has now led three different schools to the NCAA tournament, and they will face, coming out of Ann Arbor, the seventh Big 10 team (and number 10 seed in the South) the Michigan Wolverines…"

At this announcement, Hayley smiled.

"I like that situation – in KC with our fans there," Hayley said. "Clemson will be tough, but hopefully this recent bad stretch (Oklahoma had lost four of its previous six coming into Selection Sunday) will help them in the tournament."

Gumbel began revealing the brackets again, which shut Hayley up.

"First and second round games in Miami, the #3 seed in the South, the Orangemen of Syracuse. Big, courageous run through the Big East tournament, they are the seventh Big East team to make it, and they will rejoin the NCAA tournament after a two year absence. They will meet the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin – they won both the regular season and conference tournament championship, the Lumberjacks are in. The Number 6 team in the South, Arizona State's Sun Devils, the sixth team out of the Pac-10, Coach Herb Sendek's team at 24-9, and they will meet Atlantic 10 conference tournament winner Temple Owls."

With that, the brackets were now fully revealed, sending the room into total chaos. Both Ernie and Stone were glancing at each other, very aware of the possibility that Arizona State and Syracuse could indeed meet – next weekend, in fact. Both of them were glancing at Hayley, very aware that the Tulsa native's Oklahoma Sooners were in this bracket as well.

"Better watch out for her, Stone," Ernie said. "When OU's good she's mighty obnoxious about them."

"I agree. Keep an eye on her," Stone said.

"Hey guys," Hayley said. "Can one of you look over Cyberspace Wednesday through Saturday? I just got a text from an OU friend who is offering me tickets to the games in Kansas City."

"What do you think about this, Stone?" Ernie said.

"I'll take it, even though the Sun Devils might play Sunday I could still watch it. I'll look after the place. Besides, it gets the OU fan out of our hair for a while."

Then Stone turned to Hayley and said, "Consider it done. Have fun in Kansas City."

Hayley raced gleefully to the phone and began to book her reservations. Meanwhile, Kim and Elsa both had pissed off looks on their faces.

"Kim, we both should have been IN this thing!" Elsa growled.

"I know, we both got screwed over," Kim said. "But in all reality I can see why people think the Gators don't belong in the tournament. The SEC is a weak conference this year and people were saying Florida wouldn't get the benefit of the doubt. I don't understand how Arizona got in ahead of both of us though."

"You're telling me," Stone said as he turned to both of the two girls. "The U of A has had nine lives in basketball for eternity now. I hate those guys."

Jason and Tommy then came by after booking reservations to Philadelphia for the UCLA games, saw how pissed off the two women were, and made a beeline for the door.

"Oh, no you don't you two!" Kim growled. "Get back here – the prizes haven't even been revealed yet! And we're all going TOGETHER so sit your butts down!"

"Damn," Tommy grumbled under his breath as he sat back down, Jason following suit. "Can't sneak ANYTHING past her."

"Don't we know it, bro," Jason whispered. "I can only assume Florida didn't make it in."

"St. Mary's too," Tommy muttered. "Look at how pissed off Elsa is."

"I'm surprised the UNLV crew isn't as hacked off as Kim and Elsa are," Jason said.

"In all honesty, the Rebs didn't belong in the tournament," Andros said. "We had too many bad losses. The only way we could have been in this thing was winning the Mountain West conference tournament. Just a suggestion – you both just might want to shut up and remain quiet before Kim and Elsa kick both your asses."

"You would be wise to take his advice," Kim hissed to the boys.

Just at that moment, Hayley got off the phone, and Lindsey came forward.

"OK, everybody, let's move out," Lindsey said. "We're all going to go to my place so I can show you the prizes at stake this year."

5:30 p.m.

As they all arrived at Lindsey and Justin's condo just west of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, the Ranger family all got out of their cars and gathered as one in a semi-circle, to continue their tradition called Gather Round. No one, not even the great Zordon himself, but the Rangers and their immediate friends knew of this tradition, of gathering in a semi-circle after every single battle with the forces of evil to remind themselves of what they'd accomplished that battle, what needed to be worked on, and to talk about any announcements that someone might have. The tradition had started shortly after Tommy arrived the first time as the Green Ranger, and had been continued by Jason and Tommy through the Space team, and then by Tommy again during the Dino Thunder era.

"We all in?" Jason said.

"I think so," Adam said.

"OK, everyone listen up!" Tommy said – in his Leader Voice no less.

"Kim and I have a very important announcement to make regarding our yearly tournament bet," Tommy said. "And this one is going to impact not just us, but all of your lives. We normally wouldn't do this, but we decided it's time – for the sake of your safety just in case. Whoever finishes higher in this challenge is going to tell you something which will change you forever."

As he said this, he pointed to Crystal, Jen, Lindsey and Chelsea.

"None of you know the full extent of what one of us is going to tell all of you in a few weeks," Kim continued. "Before we can go through with this, we need to know that you'll keep this a secret. This is positively confidential information that you absolutely can tell no one outside this group. Can we trust you?"

"I dunno, what do you girls think?" Jen said. As it turned out, the four newcomers to the group had their arms slung around one another.

"I say we go through with it," Lindsey said.

"We'll do it," Crystal said.

Ten minutes later, the group had finished their circle session, when Lindsey spoke up.

"OK guys. It's time to show you what else is at stake for this tournament," Lindsey said as she led the group to the street, where the group suddenly stopped.

"Take a good look at em, guys and gals," Justin said as he pointed to the three sparkling new vehicles parked on the street.

The Rangers went wide-eyed as they stared at a Ford Mustang, a new van, and a positively beautiful convertible.

"My God," Aisha said. "How in the world did you get one of these beauties, much less three?"

"Lindsey was on the Price is Right last summer, you know the show," Justin said.

The rest of the group nodded, as the majority of the group were still huge fans of the show, never mind that show legend Bob Barker had retired sometime in 2007.

"She won these three playing Triple Play on the show last summer," Justin said. "We've been waiting for a way to give these three away. Here's how it's going to go down. Third prize gets the Mustang. Second prize gets the van. And the winner – gets this brand spanking new convertible."

"Make your picks carefully this year," Lindsey said. "You pick em right, you might end up with one of these."

7:30 p.m.

Reefside, CA

"Are you sure we want to do this, Tommy?" Kim said.

"Yes. It is time for them to know. Remember, when Zordon died he granted us all the option to reveal our secret at our own discretion. I don't know why I feel this way but I believe it's time," Tommy said. "You gonna go with North Carolina again?"

"Yeah, I think so," Kim said. "Just to spite Conner cause he's always talking about Duke. Sorry for getting mad at you and Jason earlier."

"I understand. Blame those stupid Trojans for knocking your Gators out of the tournament."

"You and your Trojan bashing," Kim said as she giggled. "Just be careful in Philadelphia, OK?"

"I will Beautiful."

As they went to do their separate things, they could hear this voice inside their heads saying, "YOU HAVE MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE, MY RANGERS. GOOD LUCK TO YOUR TEAMS IN THE TOURNAMENT, AND AS ALWAYS, MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"OK, I've got to lay off the sleeping pills because there is no way I heard who I think I just heard," Kim said.

TBC...


	2. PicksFirst Round Games

A/N: Yes, Pink BracketBuster is back for Season #3, although under a different username. Hello, my friends, this is TommyOliverMMPRFan (albeit under a different pen name), and welcome to my rendition of my man psav2005's classic series A Pink BracketBuster. All your old Power Ranger friends are indeed back for another year of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness – as the smack goes to fever pitch before this tournament and the stakes are raised even higher, with the prizes greater than ever before. I am honored to be the next in line to work on this classic series, and I hope you enjoy my rendition.

A/N 2: Back for a second chapter - as my man psav did before this is to let you know who picked who, and when the games are so you can follow them today.

A/N 3: I own nothing. Don't own Price is Right either.

Chapter 2: Picks and First Round Games

**UCLA **vs. VCU - Thursday in Philadelphia (Tommy, Jason, Rocky, Aisha's school/pick)

**Duke **vs. Binghamton - Thursday in Greensboro (Conner's favorite growing up/pick)

**Oklahoma** vs. Morgan State - Thursday in Kansas City (Hayley's favorite growing up/pick, Andros and Ashley's pick)

**Gonzaga** vs. Akron - Thursday in Portland (Crystal's school/pick, Carlos and Cassie's pick)

**Brigham Young** vs. Texas A&M - Thursday in Philadelphia (Lindsey's school/pick)

**North Carolina** vs. Radford - Thursday in Greensboro (Kim's pick)

**Connecticut** vs. Chattanooga - Thursday in Philadelphia (Zhane, Elsa and Karone's pick)

**USC** vs. Boston College - Friday in Minneapolis (Adam, Tanya, Trini and Zack's school, Trini and Zack's pick)

**Syracuse** vs. Stephen F. Austin - Friday in Miami (Ernie's school/pick, Billy and Kat's pick)

**Arizona State** vs. Temple - Friday in Miami (Stone's school/pick, TJ's pick)

**Cornell **vs. **Missouri** - Friday in Boise (Cornell is Anton's school, Missouri is Anton's pick, and Kira's as well)

**Pittsburgh** vs. E. Tennessee State - Friday in Dayton (Ethan and Trent's pick)

**Washington** vs. Mississippi State - Thursday in Portland (Chelsea's pick)

**Villanova** vs. American (Thursday in Philadelphia, Justin's pick)

**Memphis **vs. Cal-State Northridge (Thursday in KC, Adam and Tanya's pick)

**Louisville** v. Morehead State (Friday in Dayton, Jen's pick)

TBC...


	3. The Opening Weekend

A/N: Yes, Pink BracketBuster is back for Season #3, although under a different username. Hello, my friends, this is TommyOliverMMPRFan (albeit under a different pen name), and welcome to my rendition of my man psav2005's classic series A Pink BracketBuster. All your old Power Ranger friends are indeed back for another year of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness – as the smack goes to fever pitch before this tournament and the stakes are raised even higher, with the prizes greater than ever before. I am honored to be the next in line to work on this classic series, and I hope you enjoy my rendition.

A/N #2: I own nothing. Don't own Price is Right either.

A/N #3: Kira lives in SoCal here, while Trent has gone to Las Vegas, as has Ethan.

Chapter 3 - The Opening Weekend

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Downtown Los Angeles, CA

"**81-70, John Calipari's team ends it with a 20-6 run..."** Tim Brando announced as Adam and Tanya looked on, breathing a sigh of relief as they did so. Their pick had just survived a major scare from a local school, Cal State-Northridge, the 15 seed in the West Region who had pushed them the whole game.

"Remind me why we picked Memphis again?" Tanya said as she looked at her husband.

"Because remember, the Trojans draw is a difficult one - you and I both agreed on that when the bracket was announced," Adam said. "And we picked Memphis because we think they have the best team. Remember, in this tournament, it's about survive and advance not a beauty contest."

"True. Let's just hope they perform a lot better against whoever wins the next game," Tanya said. "I thought Northridge showed well however. Part of me was hoping they'd win, being a local school and all. How far do you seriously think our Trojans can go?"

"I think Sweet 16 and then that's it," Adam said. "I think they might beat Michigan State in round 2, but if they get to round 3 they'll have to play Kansas or West Virginia and that's going to be awfully, awfully tough."

Meanwhile...

Justin and Lindsey's condo, Anaheim, CA

"Damn!" Lindsey Greer screamed as the final buzzer sounded - A&M defeating BYU once again in the tournament, this time 79-66. "Why does this have to happen to us? Why? First the Jazz can't win the championship, then BYU chokes in the first round every year. I hate this."

Same Time, Angel Stadium

During a conference that Justin absolutely had to be in, he frowned when he saw the BYU score.

"Damn. The girlfriend's not going to be happy tonight," Justin said.

10 minutes later, his meeting was over and his phone was ringing. Horrified that it might be his girlfriend, Justin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Kimberly.

"Hey," Justin said.

"_So, you want a place to crash tonight_?" Kim said. "_I don't think I'd want to be around your girlfriend, and you know it's just me here because Tommy's in Philadelphia._"

"You know what, I'll take you up on that offer, you guys and your bigscreen in the basement," Justin laughed, with visions of him and Lindsey spending time in Tommy's basement - or as they called it, the entertainment hub of the group - watching everything under the sun. I'll drive over after work and after I pick up some things from home."

"Right. See you then."

About 2 hours later...

Reefside, CA

**"And North Carolina, marching on to the second round for a matchup with LSU**," Jim Nantz announces as top seed in the South North Carolina defeated 16th seeded Radford 101-58 to advance, indeed, to a matchup with Louisiana State in the second round.

"Let's just hope Ty Lawson's turf toe is OK," Kim said as she went to get a drink from the fridge.

Meanwhile...

Reefside, CA

"**Final score, UCONN 103, Chattanooga 47**," Carter Blackburn announces as Elsa gives a quick smile.

"Good start for my pick. They should handle A&M, though I wanted BYU," Elsa said. Soon after she frowned and turned the television off as three more misbehaving students were being led directly into her office.

Same time, Inglewood, CA

"That's a great start, no I mean a great start for our pick, Zhane," Karone said as the final buzzer sounded on the UCONN game.

"Yeah, let's just hope Calhoun's back on the bench by the next game," Zhane said.

Approximately 2 hours later

University of San Diego

**"Washington wins this one 71-58**...**"** Kevin Harlan announces as Chelsea Matthews' pick, the Washington Huskies did indeed finish off the 13 seeds from the Southeastern Conference, the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a de-facto home game for U-Dub (the game was in Portland).

"Good start for U-Dub," Chelsea said. "They should take care of business next game against Purdue - then it's off to take on UCONN and I say bring em on."

Approx. 6:30 p.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

**"From 14 down, just after the intermission, the Wildcats, spurred on a 15 unanswered point run, and Jay Wright has taken Villanova to the second round..." **Dick Enberg announces as Villanova, having survived a huge early scare, defeated the 14th seeded American Eagles 80-67.

"Wow," Justin said. "Don't you EVER scare me like that again, Villanova!"

"Feeling a little bit better?" Kim said as she presented him with more snacks and drinks. It had truly turned into an entertainment center with the game going on, with Kim's cooking of appetizers on display - for Justin it was a great night. Even better, having texted Lindsey back about where he would be he hadn't heard a peep from her, which always signified to him that it was OK.

"Yeah," Justin said. "Just - they gave me a scare for a while."

"Now aren't you glad you came here instead of having to put up with a bitter girlfriend tonight," Kim said.

"Oh, you know it. All I'd be hearing about tonight is how the Utes get so lucky and how Lindsey hates them, about how the Utah Jazz can't ever win a championship. This beats that by a country mile."

"You know who your pick might be playing next right?" Kim said.

"Yep. Those stupid Bruins," Justin said. "But don't worry. They might not beat VCU."

"True. We'll just have to wait and see."

Meanwhile...

Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon

As the final horn sounded, Crystal Miller was in a rush.

After a tight game with the Mid-American Conference's Akron Zips, she'd seen her team go on a huge second half spurt to pull away 77-64.

"Crystal, I'm not a Zags fan by any stretch," TJ said as the two headed for the Rose Garden's exits, "but that run was amazing."

"Yes it was. They had me worried for a while," Crystal said. "Too bad those snobby Huskies won also."

"Yeah, that sucked. Mississippi State didn't even put up a fight - screw them," TJ said, giving a thumbs down. "I hope Purdue will at least show up because that was nauseating having to put up with U-Dub's crap earlier."

"What about Illinois?" Crystal said.

"I don't think it's going to be them you're playing. I think you'll be playing Western Kentucky and you'll win that too. Hell, with Lawson's injury problems, North Carolina didn't look so hot in their conference tourney. You might want to think about what you're going to say to Kim," TJ said.

Just then, Crystal received a text from Carlos and Cassie, which said,

"Gonzaga is our pick as well. Good luck."

2 and a half hours later...

Long Beach, CA

Conner walked out of his apartment with a satisfied smile on his face as his favorite team for all his life, the Duke Blue Devils, walked off the court with an 86-62 win over Binghamton.

"Well, at least they didn't scare me like they did last year in the first round against Belmont," he thought. "Now comes the game against Texas. I hope Texas doesn't play like they did tonight in their win over the Gophers or I'm in big trouble."

He then pulled out his phone to see that he had four texts - from Zack, Ashley, Karone (remember, Karone and Ashley had picked Texas the year prior and still kind of liked to watch them), and Trini. And they all said.

"_We hope you're prepared to work many hours at Hayley's because Duke is going down on Saturday. Hook em Horns_."

Conner hung his head. With the Blue Devils opening weekend troubles the last couple years, an upset was a distinct possibility.

About the same time

Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO

As Hayley headed for the exits with all her fellow Oklahoma faithful, she had a smile on her face as her beloved Sooners had taken care of Morgan State 82-54.

"Satisfied we're back on track?" asked the friend who had gotten her tickets.

"Yep, a good dominating win. Just what we needed. Even better that we drew Michigan next round," Hayley said. "I thought for sure it would be Clemson. I think we'll get to the Sweet 16 but the way Syracuse is playing right now..."

"Yeah, that one's gonna be tough. I hope somebody beats Syracuse because if someone doesn't that's probably where our run ends."

Same Time

Andros and Ashley's residence

Inglewood, CA

"Well, so far our hunch for the tournament has been reall good," Andros said. "Oklahoma took care of their opponent rather easily."

"Yep," Ashley said. "Kind of like the Arizona Cardinals - sometimes stumbling and then having some time to regroup can pay dividends. OU got a good draw on the weekend too."

"I agree. Michigan is not real good," Andros said. "OU and Syracuse however should be a good one."

Meanwhile...

Angel Grove, CA

**"Here comes Maynor, with 3 with 2 with 1, he MISSES!"** Dick Enberg announces as the buzzer sounds. VCU's superstar had the chance to shatter UCLA's season, but had come up short as the Bruins escaped with a 65-64 win to advance to play Villanova.

"Rocky, that was WAY too close," Aisha said. "Our Bruins HAVE to close games out better than that."

"Man, LOOK at this!" Rocky howled. "Because we couldn't close this damn thing out, I got five texts from people who went to Pac-10 schools saying that we were gonna blow it!"

"Let em be," Aisha said. "By not responding we already have more class than they do."

Same Time

Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA

"Man, GREAT win bro!" Jason said.

"You know what, I agree with you," Tommy said. "Our boys didn't quite close it out the way they should, but the bottom line is survive and advance, and this gives Ben Howland something to light his guys the hell up. Villanova better watch out!"

"Wait, did anyone pick Villanova?" Jason said. "Are we going up against anyone here?"

"The little nerd Justin picked Villanova," Tommy grumbled.

"Good, we get to break his little Stanford heart again by winning Saturday," Jason said.

Friday, March 20

11:30 a.m. PDT

Angel Grove, CA

**"59 to 44, Syracuse over Stephen F. Austin..."** Ian Eagle said as the buzzer sounded in Miami, sending Syracuse to the next round.

"Good start, Cuse!" Ernie shouted from behind the counter of the newly renovated Angel Grove Juice Bar. "Way to keep the momentum from the Big East tournament rolling! See you Sunday!"

Meanwhile, Billy and Kat were there watching games, and smiled at each other.

"Betcha he's happy to see the Cuse back in the tournament," Billy said. "I've got a good feeling about them."

"As do I," Kat said.

Approximately 2.5 hours later...

Ford Residence

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

**"Mike Anderson walks over to shake hands with Steve Donahue, and the Missouri Tigers advance on to Round 2, a Sunday matchup here in Boise against Marquette**," Craig Bolerjack said as Missouri wrapped up Cornell 78-59.

"Well, there's a good start for Mizzou," Kira said. "Sunday will be tough, but hopefull the Tigers can keep my bracket alive. I'm confident they will."

Same time, Reefside, CA

"Well, good season Big Red," Anton sighed as the game ended. "Too bad but I knew it was going to suck. Mizzou can go all the way and I expect them to take care of the Golden Eagles on Sunday."

Meanwhile...

James Residence

Las Vegas, NV

**"Pittsburgh wins it, 72-62**," Verne Lundquist announces as the top seeded Panthers escaped the stubborn East Tennessee State Buccaneers, garnering a huge sigh of relief from Ethan.

"Man, that was WAY too close," Ethan said, as he looked at a text from Trent, who also happened to be living in Las Vegas.

"Man, dude that was WAY too close," Trent texted. Ethan's response was,

"Yeah but Oklahoma State will be an even bigger challenge for them. Hopefully they rise to the occasion."

Meanwhile...

Hayley's Cyberspace

Reefside, CA

**"Arizona State - able to keep Temple at arm's length throughout the day. In their first NCAA tournament in six years, Arizona State advances to the second round a 66-57 victory over Temple**," Ian Eagle says as the final buzzer sounds in Miami.

"ASU! ASU! ASU!" Jerome Stone shouts. "Good to get a tournament victory!"

He then looked at his phone, to see a text from Ernie.

"Your run ends Sunday. Go Cuse," was all the text read.

"We'll see on Sunday. Go Devils," was the response.

Same time, Portland, Oregon

"Good to see ASU get a tournament win," TJ said. "Had to pick a Pac-10 school to win it - might as well be ASU. Hope they beat Syracuse."

Approx. 5 p.m. PDT

Hayley's Cyberspace

With USC getting ready to start, the Cyberspace was rocking, but especially in the area of four particular USC fans.

"Well, here we are back in the tournament," Zack said. "Time to really make some racket!"

"Yep, time to shut up Vitale by beating an ACC team," Trini said. "We're a team of destiny! Let's get six more wins and take it all!"

That earned cheers from Adam and Tanya as well, although neither Zack nor Trini knew that Adam and Tanya hadn't picked USC.

Approx. 2 hours later

The din grew as the final seconds ticked away, the four USC fans making a whole lot of racket as they had pulled away from Boston College a long time ago for a 72-55 win.

**"Back to back upsets in Minneapolis - first it's Dayton beating West Virginia, now SC defeats Boston College..." **Gus Johnson said as the final buzzer sounds.

"WE ARE! SC! WE ARE! SC! WE ARE! SC!" the USC crew chanted in postgame celebration.

"Man, TOO easy!" Zack said. "No contest in the second half!"

"Yep, this team is coming together at the RIGHT time of the year!" Trini said. "Watch out Michigan State!"

"On another note, Dick Vitale can eat it," Adam said. "Maybe the ACC isn't so good at basketball after all. Good win by the Trojans. Bring on the Spartans."

Later...

Fullerton, CA

**"So, this one goes in the books, the final 74-54, the Louisville Cardinals advance," **Verne Lundquist announces as the top overall seed in the tournament survived an early minor scare to pull away and win easily in their first tourney game.

"Good start to making it back-to-back championships," Jen Jackson said. "Maybe, just maybe I can win that convertible."

Saturday, March 21, 2009

just after 12 noon PDT

Anaheim, CA

**"Villanova in the Sweet 16! Watch out Boston, the Wildcats are coming to town!" **Dick Enberg exclaims as the final buzzer sounds, signifying Villanova's 89-69 blowout of UCLA.

"Yes!" Justin roared. "Damn stupid Bruins are finally gone!"

"I can't say I'm disappointed to see them go either, hon," a much happier Lindsey said as she kissed her boyfriend. "UCLA and USC - blech. Can't stand either one of them. Even better was that it was your pick that takes them out. So who do you want Nova to play in the next round?"

"Duke," Justin said, without hesitation. "Duke. I don't mind Texas and under normal circumstances I'd want to see them win - hell every time they play Oklahoma in football I want them to win so Hayley will shut up - but I'd rather see Villanova shut up Dick Vitale and all the ACC homers at ESPN."

"I don't care who they're playing, I'm not rooting for Duke, not with Conner a fan of theirs," Lindsey said, scowling as she did so.

"You do have a point. Conner's a real piece of work," Justin said. "But tonight I think I still want them to win. I think."

Same time

Angel Grove Youth Center

Angel Grove, CA

"Damn. We got our butts kicked and good, Rocky," Aisha said as she joined Rocky at a table, dumbstruck by what the two had just seen - their Bruins being obliterated before the first weekend was even over.

"Tell me about it. They got us and they got us good," Rocky said. "I've never seen a Ben Howland team get embarrassed like that."

"Well, as long as the USC group doesn't make it any farther I'm happy," Aisha said.

"True, although I do have respect for Adam and Tanya not picking USC to win it this year," Rocky said.

Same Time

Philadelphia, PA

"Man, that was not fun, bro," Tommy said as the two best friends headed out of Wachovia Center.

"You're right, it wasn't," Jason said. "They beat us and they beat us good. Howland needs to make some kind of adjustments to get us to a championship level."

"Agreed. This year was a rather down year," Tommy said. "You know what, for Hayley's sake I'd kind of like to see Oklahoma win it now."

"I agree. That's who I'm pulling for," Jason said. "Besides, Blake Griffin seems like a really cool guy."

Approx. 2 to 2.5 hours later

Redondo Beach, CA

**"And Memphis is going to win it, and advance to the Sweet 16, something John Calipari is very comfortable in doing - they're headed to the desert**!" Tim Brando announces as the Memphis Tigers finish off an 89-70 win over the 10 seeds in the West - the Maryland Terrapins.

"Much better showing from our pick this time," Tanya said.

"Yep, they picked it up today. Greivis Vasquez should have known better than to mouth off about Memphis and their conference," Adam said. "Good player, but needs to check himself."

"If they play like this," Tanya said, "there's nothing that can stop them."

"I agree, but I worry about their next game if it's against Missouri," Adam said. "Missouri's a really good team from an underrated conference. I hope Marquette beats them because Memphis would have real problems against Mizzou. I do think they'd win however."

Same Time

Inglewood, CA

"Well, that was an impressive showing," Zhane said to his wife as Connecticut finished off a 92-66 win over 9 seeded Texas A&M.

"Yep, and UCONN looks stronger than ever going out West," Karone said. "Hopefully they get that matchup against Memphis in the round of 8. That should be a good one."

Just then, they received a text from Elsa in Reefside, which read, "Nice game by UCONN. They look like they could win it."

Approx. 4:45 p.m. PDT

Hayley's Cyberspace

Reefside, CA

**"Quite an effort by the Tigers in the second half, but the Tar Heels behind Lawson just too much!"** Jim Nantz announces as North Carolina advanced into the Round of 16 with an 84-70 win.

"Wow. This is not going to come easy for them. LSU made them work for it," Kim muttered. "That next game with Gonzaga is gonna be tough, tough tough."

"You know Crystal's gonna be getting in your face if Gonzaga wins their game," Lt. Stone said as he gave her a sandwich, just like she ordered it.

"Which is precisely why I hope Western Kentucky knocks them off," Kim said.

Meanwhile

University of San Diego

**"And that's it! The Purdue Boilermakers are going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000!"** Kevin Harlan says as Purdue upsets Washington 76-74 in Portland.

"Damn!" Chelsea Matthews said. "How I thought Washington could be this year's Xavier. Should have stayed with X - I just KNEW it!"

Elsewhere

Inglewood, CA

"Man, that was an awfully good win by OU, Ashley," Andros said as OU finished off a 10 point win over Michigan, 73-63.

"Hell yeah," Ashley said as she and Andros high fived. "They looked much much better today."

"I just hope they don't play Syracuse next round," Andros said. "That's just an awfully hard team to play."

Same Time

Kansas City, MO

"Sweet 16, baby!" Hayley roared as she literally SPRINTed out of the Sprint Center after OU's 10 point win.

"Hells yeah we looked good!" her friend said. "Maybe we're finally out of our late-season funk."

"I just hope ASU wins tomorrow," Hayley said. "I really, really do not want to play Syracuse. If we win that game, I feel we can go all the way."

"I agree."

Just after 7 PDT

Long Beach, CA

**"Duke advances!"** Jim Nantz announces as Duke barely holds off a pesky Texas team to win 73-69 and makes their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2006.

"My God, that was close," Conner said, finally able to escape with a Sweet 16 bid in his grasp.

Not five seconds later came a text, from none other than the youngest Power Ranger in history. It read as follows,

"Your Blue Devils got lucky tonight. Texas should have beat them. I can't wait until the team that's going to win it all, Villanova, sends them back to Durham with their tails between their legs! Nova plays in a real conference!"

"Damn!" Conner said. "Already? This is how it's going to be all week? OK then, I can play that game."

He fired off a quick text to Justin, and then went to get something to eat.

About the same time

Rose Garden

Portland, Oregon

"Man, what an amazing game!" Crystal said, wide-eyed as she and TJ headed out of the Rose Garden. They would head back to Mission Viejo the next day, but would spend one more night in Portland.

"I agree. Great game," TJ said. "And finally, U-Dub is going home!"

"Yes indeed!" Crystal said, her smile widening at that bit of news. "Thank you Purdue!"

"Now I suggest you start trash talking with - well, you know who," TJ said.

"I agree. They barely squeaked by today. They are ripe for the picking," Crystal said. "But that comes tomorrow."

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Approx. 11:30 a.m. PDT

Angel Grove Juice Bar

Angel Grove, CA

**"The Dance continues for Syracuse!" **Ian Eagle announces as the Orange advance past the Sun Devils, 78-67. **"It's on to Memphis, and the Sweet 16!"**

"Well, Ernie, my Devils put on a good show but we just lost to a better team," Stone said.

"Yeah, that matchup against Oklahoma ought to be pretty good," Ernie said. "I don't think Hayley will do too much trash talking though. She's really worried about playing Syracuse."

"There are a lot of teams the Cuse could beat right now," Stone said. Just then, he got a text from TJ which read,

"Sorry about the result. Heard the game on the radio - I was pulling for them. Had to pick a Pac-10 team to win it all."

"Good to know he's supportive of the league," Stone said.

Just then, Billy and Kat came up to Ernie and Billy said,

"Hey, GREAT showing by Syracuse."

"Yeah, that was a great win," Ernie said. "I suggest you both watch your backs however. Hayley might not come after me but she'll sure come after you two."

Approx. 2.5 hours later

Las Vegas, NV

"Holy crap, Ethan, that game scared the hell out of me!" Trent said as the final buzzer sounded with Pitt holding off a great effort from Oklahoma State, 84-76.

"Tell me about it. Did Pitt forget to defend the 3 or what?" Ethan said.

"In the first half, probably but I do give them credit in the second half, they did a good job defensively there," Trent said. "I think they should beat Xavier but we'll see. Pitt tends to have this stumbling block when it comes to the Sweet 16."

"For our sakes they better win," Ethan said.

A short time later

Hayley's Cyberspace

Reefside, CA

With USC's game getting set to get started, Hayley's Cyberspace was once again rocking as the four USC fans had come from Burbank and Redondo Beach to watch their beloved Trojans in Round 2.

"Time for shocker #2, boys!" Trini said. "Just another Big 10 chump standing in our way!"

"Hopefully if they can win this, they can gather enough momentum to take it the distance," Zack said.

"WE ARE! SC! WE ARE! SC! WE ARE! SC!" came the chant as the tipoff was about set to begin.

Approx. 2 hours later

"Damn!" the four USC fans huffed as Michigan State was able to squeak past USC with a 74-69 win.

"Well, at least we had USC going all the way and stuck with our team," Trini said. "Right guys?"

Zack did indeed raise his, but the two looked on in shock as Adam and Tanya just stood there.

"You did not..." Zack said as he glared at the couple.

"I'm sorry, but we did not," Adam said. "We used our heads over our hearts."

"How COULD you?" Trini damn near yelled.

"We didn't like their draw this year," Tanya said. "Maybe if they had a better position we'd have picked them. Adam and I both knew we were lucky to get in the tourney anyways."

"Even if they'd won today, we'd have had to play Kansas on Friday, and we both knew that would be awfully tough," Adam said.

"I guess they're right," Zack said. "I guess they're right."

"So who DO you have if not USC?" Trini said.

"Memphis," Adam said. "Memphis should have won it last year and I believe they are better than UConn. Tanya and I both have Memphis."

"I can't lie to you guys, I have Memphis in my Final Four also," Zack said, "so I hope you both win automobiles."

Just then, Adam and Tanya both received texts.

Adam's was from Dr. Mercer, and Tanya's was from her fellow Yellow, Kira - as their pick, Missouri, had just then advanced on to the Sweet 16 and would be the team that Memphis would play next. They both said,

"You might have the Tigers, but you have the WRONG Tigers. The Missouri version will prevail on Thursday."

Adam and Tanya looked at each other, both with smiles.

"Well, I think we've both found easy subjects for the picking," Adam said as he kissed Tanya. "Let's start smack talking them."

"You got it."

Meanwhile...

Fullerton, CA

"Wow, that was scary," Jen Jackson said as Louisville finished off a 79-72 win over the pesky Siena Saints in the second round, to advance to a Sweet 16 game against Arizona.

"They need to play a lot better than that," Jen continued as she went to one of CSU-Fullerton's dining halls. "If they don't, they may go home a lot earlier than they should."


	4. Weekend 2, Final Four Preview

A/N: Yes, Pink BracketBuster is back for Season #3, although under a different username. Hello, my friends, this is TommyOliverMMPRFan (albeit under a different pen name), and welcome to my rendition of my man psav2005's classic series A Pink BracketBuster. All your old Power Ranger friends are indeed back for another year of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness – as the smack goes to fever pitch before this tournament and the stakes are raised even higher, with the prizes greater than ever before. I am honored to be the next in line to work on this classic series, and I hope you enjoy my rendition.

A/N #2: I own nothing. Don't own Price is Right either, nor do I own the CBS announcers I cited in the last chapter.

A/N #3: Kira lives in SoCal here, while Trent has gone to Las Vegas, as has Ethan.

Chapter 4 - Weekend 2, Final Four Preview

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Reefside, CA

As the buzzer sounded in Glendale, Arizona, signifying Connecticut's 72-60 win over Purdue, Elsa nodded in satisfaction.

"The Huskies just keep rolling along," she said. "Next up is Memphis, probably."

But apparently someone didn't get her the memo that Memphis would maybe be eliminated themselves.

Meanwhile...

Inglewood, CA

"Good performance again by our pick," Zhane said as he came in the door. "I just got back from some stuff in Huntington Beach, and heard the score on the radio."

"Now let's just hope they can make it through the Elite 8 and get to Detroit," Karone said.

Approx. same time

Las Vegas, NV

"Man, Ethan, that was WAY too close!" Trent said as the two had gathered to watch the Pittsburgh/Xavier game - Pitt had just squeaked through to the next round, 60-55 with the help of a late 3 pointer by Levance Fields.

"I know," Trent said. "They keep finding ways to win but at this rate, my blood's going to boil if they do this again."

Approx. 9 p.m. PDT

Anaheim, CA

"YEAH!" Justin Stewart hollered as Villanova saw his pick, the Villanova Wildcats, complete a totally dominating performance in a 77-54 decision over Duke.

"Boy, how big of an idiot does Conner look now?" Lindsey said as she hugged her boyfriend. "You were right to want Duke to win in the second round - now you have bragging rights over Conner."

"I should whale on him verbally too," Justin said. "Duke is way overrated, and I knew if Villanova met them they would win in a rout. Just like what happened tonight."

Just then, he shot off a text to Conner in Long Beach, with the simple message, _"77-54. Eat it, loudmouth_."

Just a few minutes later, he received a text back from Conner with the simple words, _"F you."_

"Haha, he's a loser," Justin said, laughing as he continued to pick with Conner's mind.

9:30 p.m. PDT

Redondo Beach, CA

**"So, the first of the powerful top 3 seeds in the regions, none has lost until tonight - Missouri, the #3 seed, 102, Memphis 91!"** Dick Enberg announces as the final horn sounds in Glendale, Arizona, signifying Missouri's huge upset win over Memphis.

"I can't believe it," Tanya said. "Memphis just got flat out balled tonight. There goes our pick."

"Unfortunately, yeah," Adam said. "I could tell right away that Memphis was in trouble - I can see why Kira and Dr. Mercer picked Missouri to go all the way. Missouri goes 10 deep, shoots the 3, can score inside, is very athletic. Memphis just ran into a buzzsaw tonight."

Meanwhile...

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

"Man, how about THAT performance!" Kira said. "Mizzou looked dominant out there tonight. Memphis got their asses flat beaten all over the court. Man, 3 wins away. Hopefully they can take it all the way."

Suddenly, her phone rang. Noting that it was Dr. Mercer, she quickly picked up.

_"Did you see that?" _Dr. Mercer said without even regarding Kira. _"That looks like a team that can go all the way_."

"I agree," Kira said. "Have you talked any junk to Adam and Tanya yet?"

_"No, but I'm currently crafting a response. I say let's double team em."_

"No problem."

Friday, March 27, 2009

Approx. 6:30 p.m. PDT

Fullerton, CA

**"The final, 103-64, Louisville defeats Arizona, they await the winner of Michigan State/Kansas," **Gus Johnson says as the final horn sounds in Indianapolis, punctuating Louisville's blowout win.

"Man, my pick the Cards are looking GOOD," Jen Jackson says as she heads out for some dinner. "This team looked awesome tonight."

Approx. same time

Hayley's Cyberspace

Reefside, CA

**"Start to finish, never trailed. On to the Elite 8 for Oklahoma,"** Jim Nantz announces as Oklahoma stuns Syracuse 84-71 behind an awesome three point shooting display and a great night from Blake Griffin.

"Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Rah OK-U..." Hayley shouted from behind the counter as OU venturecd into the Elite 8 for the first time in six years.

"Now that was unbelievable," Jason said as he walked up to the counter to get something to eat, having just gotten out of the shower from a workout - he'd seen the whole game on the television. "If OU plays like that again, they'll be off to the Final Four."

Man, it's a great night to be a Sooner fan, Jason," Hayley said. "I've been waiting so very long for us to have a good basketball team again since the Billy Tubbs years. Even the 02 Final Four team got there by pure luck, not talent. This team, tonight, played at a level that is required to win a championship. That's how I felt about them tonight."

"You know who you might be facing next, right?" Jason said.

"Yep, it's your little sis," Hayley said. "Do we really need her winning anything more?"

"The answer is no," Jason said. "No offense to her but I'll be pulling for Oklahoma should the two play on Sunday."

Just then, Jason and Hayley heard voices, and saw Kim and Crystal walking into the Cyberspace, full smack going between the two. It had kickstarted on Monday, and really hadn't let up. It was a wonder that Tommy and TJ had put up with it all week.

"OK, shut up girls!" Hayley said, bringing them both to full attention. "It doesn't matter who wins your little feud. Oklahoma will run either one of you, so don't go too far with this, girls."

Kim simply looked at Hayley like she was crazy. "You mean, THAT team? That team's going to beat North Carolina? Hayley, you're off your rocker."

"Ask Syracuse if I'm off my rocker," Hayley said. "They just got their heads handed to them. Just know that Oklahoma's going to beat either one of your two picks. Now, sit down, shut up, watch the game and don't cause a damn bit of trouble!"

Approx. 2 hours later

Crystal was long gone, her team having been defeated long ago, and Kim was dancing around Cyberspace as the final seconds ticked away.

As the final buzzer sounded, signifying a 98-77 win for North Carolina, Kim was feeling it. No matter that Oklahoma had won big in their game earlier, Kim had no doubt that she was on her way to her pick winning it, and maybe a shot at the title itself.

"See you Sunday!" Kim shouted at Hayley as she began to walk out. "Don't forget those crying towels Sunday. You'll need them!"

Hayley glared at Tommy's first love as she danced out of the building, and turned to Jason and said, "Where in the hell did she get so arrogant?"

"I'm not sure, Hayley. I'm really not sure," Jason said. "I'm just glad you're not taking her bait. I sincerely hope the Sooners win on Sunday."

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Inglewood, CA

**"And the UCONN Huskies - from the West, to Detroit! Jim Calhoun's team takes aim at a third national title in 10 years!"** Dick Enberg says as Connecticut wraps up a trip to the Final Four with an 85-76 win over Missouri.

"Yeah! Oh yeah!" Zhane and Karone high five as the Huskies advance to college basketball's ultimate event. "Our pick is alive and very well!"

"Our brackets look pretty good too," Karone said after the two had settled down. "Look, here's a text from Elsa."

"What's she saying?"

"She wants to know if we want to be at Cyberspace next Saturday because she picked the Huskies also."

"I say we do it," Zhane said.

Meanwhile...

Hayley's Cyberspace

"Well, that sucks," Kira said as she and Dr. Mercer walked out of Cyberspace following their pick's loss. "Someday we'll pick the winner right."

"Mizzou doesn't have anything to be ashamed of," Dr. Mercer said. "They had a heck of a year this year. I told everyone back on Selection Sunday that I thought they could win it all - well, they proved today that they belong with the best of the best."

Approx. 6:30 PDT

Anaheim, CA

"Oh yeah! Oh yeah!" Justin hollered as the last shot by Pitt rattled off the backboard, sealing his pick's (Villanova's) trip to the Final Four, a 78-76 final.

"Man, oh man, your pick's had a great run," Lindsey said. "Looks like one of these bad boys might be staying here, in your possession."

"Would be great, but..." Justin said.

"Yeah I know, but who'd have thought Villanova would be there?" Lindsey said.

"They have had a great run," Justin said. "I knew they were gonna beat those stupid Bruins and do something in this tournament."

Meanwhile...

Las Vegas, NV

"Damn," Ethan said as he and Trent walked outside. "So, so close."

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt that much to lose a game like that," Trent said. "That was a great game. I'm kinda hoping for Villanova the rest of the way."

"Me too."

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fullerton, CA

"I don't believe this," Jen Jackson said as she watched in disbelief. Her pick, the top overall seed Louisville, had faltered. Michigan State had just upset them, 64-52.

"Well, that's why people say it's the greatest tournament in sports," she muttered. "Because of upsets like this one."

Meanwhile...

Hayley's Cyberspace

Once again, the Cyberspace was rocking. But this time, for a different reason.

The game that everyone in this tiny little group was looking forward to, Oklahoma and North Carolina, was about to get underway.

For the last two days, Kim had tried to get under Hayley's skin, but Hayley had ignored each and every one of her texts.

Not that Hayley wasn't supremely confident. She had always regarded Syracuse as a bigger threat to Oklahoma than even North Carolina. She believed the Sooners would eventually prevail and head to the Final Four, but she wasn't flaunting it.

Approx. 2 hours later

**"Tarheels win for the 100th time in their history in the NCAA tournament, a record, and now a record 18th Final Four coming up," **Jim Nantz announces as Oklahoma was easily disposed of by North Carolina 72-60. It hadn't really been a close game, as North Carolina had raced to a lead of as much as 21 points and never looked back.

As Kim did her little victory dance (which positively nobody joined in), Hayley walked backstage in disbelief.

"I can't believe we played so poorly," she said. "It's almost like we didn't even show up."

"I know how you feel," Jason said as he found her backstage. "My Bruins couldn't even find the ballpark against Villanova. Too bad. Just - anybody but UNC. Please."

"I hear ya, bro," Tommy said as he found them both. "My wife's arrogance is off the charts. I can live with anyone winning it except North Carolina."

TBC...

**A/N: So, to recap, Justin's pick (Villanova) will take on Kim's pick (North Carolina) in one national semifinal on Saturday, while in the other semifinal Zhane, Elsa and Karone's pick (Connecticut) will take on Michigan State.**


	5. Final Four Weekend

A/N: Yes, Pink BracketBuster is back for Season #3, although under a different username. Hello, my friends, this is TommyOliverMMPRFan (albeit under a different pen name), and welcome to my rendition of my man psav2005's classic series A Pink BracketBuster. All your old Power Ranger friends are indeed back for another year of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness – as the smack goes to fever pitch before this tournament and the stakes are raised even higher, with the prizes greater than ever before. I am honored to be the next in line to work on this classic series, and I hope you enjoy my rendition.

A/N #2: I own nothing. Don't own Price is Right either, nor do I own the CBS announcers I cited in the last chapter.

A/N #3: Kira lives in SoCal here, while Trent has gone to Las Vegas, as has Ethan.

Chapter 5 - Final Four Weekend

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Reefside, CA

**"Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the 2009 Men's NCAA Final Four, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan..."**

With that announcement, the Cyberspace became bedlam.

Justin smiled as he continued to munch on snacks - it was good to have a lot of people in his corner.

Which was something he definitely had right now - with all the success Kim was having, she was almost becoming the New York Yankees of the group. His pick Villanova would tangle with hers, North Carolina, in the second game of the night.

Justin didn't seem to see it that way, however - most of the texts and emails he'd traded with Kim had been friendlies. Whereas her battles with Crystal and Hayley in the previous rounds were more personal, venom filled battles, this one was filled with respect. Whatever happened, the two would probably occupy two of the final three spots, so each would be getting themselves automobiles.

On the other side, the group who had picked UCONN - a threesome which was sipping on smoothies at the other end of Cyberspace - were feeling good about their chances. Though they'd have to face the Spartans of Michigan State in Detroit, they felt confident they would prevail and go on to beat whoever would come out on top in the other game.

A large portion of the bar was rooting for them also, because they wanted to see somebody who could beat North Carolina in the national championship game should the Tar Heels make it there.

"Must feel good to have a pick in the Final Four," Jason told Justin as he went to get a smoothie.

"Yeah, but going up against UNC's going to be pretty tough," Justin said.

"We're rooting for your team. No offense to my little sis but she's getting way too cocky with the success she's having," Jason said.

"We'll see what happens," Justin said.

Approx. 3 p.m. PDT

"Here we go UCONN here we go!" Zhane, Elsa and Karone chanted.

"All the way to the national championship!" Zhane said.

"So we can have a car!" Karone said.

"BUNCH OF CHEATERS!" Rocky shouted from across the bar. "When they lose to MSU tonight that will be the end of that program!"

"And just where is UCLA these days?" Zhane shouted back.

"Better than UNLV!" Rocky retorted.

Approx. 5 p.m. PDT

**"Michigan State advances!" **Jim Nantz exclaims as the Spartans do indeed head to the national title game with another upset - this time 82-73 over Connecticut.

The small group who had picked UConn couldn't have been more stunned if Dark Specter and Mesogog had dropped out of the sky playing guitar.

"Unbelievable," Karone hissed.

"I can't believe they blew that game!" Zhane said.

"See, I told you!" Rocky shouted. "Cheaters never prosper!"

"Yeah, shut up, Rocky, we all know where UCLA is," Elsa said. "And it's not playing tonight."

30 minutes later...

"You ready kid?" Kim said as the Villanova/North Carolina game prepared to tip off.

"Yeah, I am," Justin said. "It would be better if Florida and Stanford were in this position but..."

"Yeah, but this will do," Kim said. "Thanks for being that refreshing change from the last two rounds."

"And thanks again for having me on that first day of the tournament," Justin said. "I needed that."

"Yes, thank you," Lindsey said from behind them both. "He was smart to head to your place. I would truly have been an unbearable girlfriend that night."

"You both are welcome," Kim said. "Now let's go watch the game."

Approx. 2 hours later

**"Tarheels ... rolling on to Monday night! Another convincing Carolina victory!"** Jim Nantz says as North Carolina pulls away from Villanova to eventually win 83-69.

"Well, too bad. They had a good season. Too bad it didn't result in me getting my pick correct," Justin muttered.

"Hey, you've got nothing to be ashamed of," Kim said. "That was fun. Your pick just ran into a better team."

"A team that is, quite frankly, going to win it all," Justin said. "That's the best team right there."

"No way, man!" Tommy said. "Michigan State's gonna take this one! At home, Monday night!"

"Uh, they played earlier this year at Ford Field and North Carolina won by like 40 points," Justin said. "Nothing's changed. And you want to know one more thing?" he finished as he turned back to Kim.

"Yeah?"

"I'm actually rooting for North Carolina on Monday because I want the best team to win," Justin said. "I'm not buying this crap about Michigan State. They don't stand a chance."

Monday, April 6, 2009

Approx. 6 p.m. PDT

Reefside, CA

Once again, the Cyberspace was rocking tonight, and the Spartan fans in Detroit weren't the only ones wearing green.

Pretty much every other observer, sans Kim and Justin (Justin wanted to see the better team win), was rooting for Michigan State. Amongst those rooting the hardest for Michigan State were the USC group (because they wanted to see the team they lost to win it) and Conner (Duke fan growing up so had an obvious hatred for North Carolina). The UConn pick group was rooting for the Spartans hard too, since they had lost to State in the national semifinals.

Kim did have a few backers, most notably (both grudgingly) Crystal and Hayley. They'd resigned themselves to the fact that North Carolina had the best team and had beat both of their squads, so much like Justin, they would rather see North Carolina win. Much as they both hated how Kim was obnoxious to them both in earlier rounds, they had no choice but to root for UNC.

Approx. 2 hours later...

**"North Carolina is your 2009 National Champions!" **Jim Nantz exclaims as the Tar Heels put on a magnificent performance from the start, and keep the Spartans at bay on the way to an 89-72 romp.

Kim's smile following that game made every other person in the Cyberspace shudder.

"I'm glad they won," Justin said. "Congrats. That's what, 3 of the last 4 years you've picked the national champ correct?"

"Yep," Kim said. "That team was just too good for everyone else."

"While I had Nova winning it, I knew that beating the Heels was going to be a tough mountain," Justin said. "They just lost to a better team."

"You didn't do too bad yourself, kid," Kim said. "Congrats on your performance."

Tommy then came up and hugged his wife. He knew that as much as he wanted Michigan State to win (he'd had one of his old, old green t-shirts on as a tribute to both the Spartans and his green ranger days), he knew a car of some sort was headed his wife's way - maybe a convertible.

TBC...

**A/N: Final results up tomorrow.**


	6. Places and Secrets Revealed

A/N: Yes, Pink BracketBuster is back for Season #3, although under a different username. Hello, my friends, this is TommyOliverMMPRFan (albeit under a different pen name), and welcome to my rendition of my man psav2005's classic series A Pink BracketBuster. All your old Power Ranger friends are indeed back for another year of the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, aka March Madness – as the smack goes to fever pitch before this tournament and the stakes are raised even higher, with the prizes greater than ever before. I am honored to be the next in line to work on this classic series, and I hope you enjoy my rendition.

A/N #2: I own nothing. Don't own Price is Right either, nor do I own the CBS announcers I cited in the last chapter.

A/N #3: Kira lives in SoCal here, while Trent has gone to Las Vegas, as has Ethan.

Chapter 6 - Places and Secrets Revealed

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Justin and Lindsey's condo

Anaheim, CA

"All right, everyone, it's time to reveal the winners of this year's tournament!" Jason shouted over the din.

With that, the group quieted. With North Carolina's win the other night, they knew who would be revealing the secret that much of them had kept for so long, although Crystal partially knew about it through TJ.

But first, came the revealing of who would win the cars.

"Coming into the weekend, we had five people that still had a chance. Karone, Elsa, Zhane, Kim and Justin," Jason said.

Justin had smiled - he was mighty proud of himself for this bracket, no matter what place he might end up in.

Most of them knew from looking at Jason who was going to win it - he didn't look happy.

"Third place winner and winner of the Ford Mustang...Elsa," Jason said.

The denizens clapped for her, especially Anton. Most of the team had been doing the brackets for a number of years, while Elsa was just in her second year even though she was a fan of the tournament. So for her, it was a great showing.

"Second place winner, and winner of the Ford Mustang ... Zhane!" Jason said.

Zhane smiled at coming in second. Having been on Earth for a few years, he particularly liked the Jeep and the one Tommy had, so he was happy to claim his prize.

"And the winner of the 2009 Angel Grove/Reefside Madness Challenge, and a brand spanking new convertible ... I think you all know her ... Kimberly Hart," Jason said.

Everyone clapped for her, but everyone in the room saw her smug attitude and sighed - she was getting way, way too cocky these days.

"Now, I think you all should gather around," Kim said. "The moment of truth has come. You're going to have to make yourselves comfortable because this is going to take quite a whle to tell."

When everyone was seated, Kim waited till they were all quiet, then began.

"Understand that we've been keeping this a secret partly out of necessity and partly out of habit," Kim said. "Jen, Crystal, Lindsey, Chelsea, Ernie, Stone, I assume you've all heard of the Power Rangers at some point."

All of them nodded. They all had a feeling that what was about to come next was big ... really big.

They couldn't have been more right.

"What you have to understand is," Kim said. "Every single damn person in this room with the exception of you was a Power Ranger at some point."

The mouths of the four women dropped open in shock, while Ernie and Stone simply nodded. While Ernie and Stone couldn't be sure about who was behind the masks all those years ago, they'd had their suspicions. No one was better equipped to handle such a dangerous task than those in that room right there.

Meanwhile, Lindsey whirled on Justin, "How could you..."

Justin shook his head, and pointed to Kim.

"Boys and girls, it's time for some history lessons," Kim said. "How many of the six of you have heard of the planet Eltar?"

Most shook their heads, while others looked on in confusion.

"Eltar plays a critical role in my story because that's where our mentor came from," Kim said. "Tens of thousands of years ago, he was a Power Ranger himself, and waged battle against all of the villains that ever invaded THIS planet. You remember 1993, when Rita Repulsa was first freed, don't you?"

Everyone nodded. Her release and first attack on the world had triggered earthquakes all over the planet!

"Zordon had set up shop here on Earth, right outside the L.A. area in Angel Grove, in fact. His Command Center was hidden in the mountains where no one could find it. When Rita was released from a space dumpster and first waged war on this planet, he called five teens to defend the planet because he knew we could do it," Kim said.

"Those five teens," Jason said, "were Kimberly, myself, Billy, Trini and Zack. We used the Power Coins, which held the powers of ancient dinosaurs. Mine was the Tyrannosaurus, Kim's was the Pterodactyl. For a while, we held our own against Rita and beat back her attacks. But we all knew something big was coming. We could just feel it, that we hadn't seen the worst of what she could do yet. We were never more right."

"And then, well, I came," Tommy said. "I faced Jason in the finals of a karate tournament and tied him. It turned out that Rita was watching the both of us, and had a sixth power coin. She selected me for it because she knew I could hold my own against Jason. I did horrible things. I very nearly destroyed these guys in the room, right here."

"I remember the day she attacked Angel Grove and Bulk and Skull got trapped in that bus," Ernie said. "It was horrifying."

"Yeah, we know," Kim said. "But what you have to understand is that attack was meant for US, not those two. They were the bait that led us right into her trap. She cast an eclipse on our fighting machine, the Megazord because it's main power source was solar power. She very nearly destroyed the Megazord that day. It was awful."

"Worse yet, Tommy had smashed our communications with the Command Center, which was all part of Rita's plan," Jason said. "What all of you have to understand is that Zordon was not just a mentor to us, but he was a father figure. Without him, Rita could handcuff us with attacks any time she wanted. And that's just what she did."

"How did Tommy turn anyways?" Ernie said. "That's one thing I've always wondered."

"His evil spell was tied to a weapon called the Sword of Darkness. Once I destroyed that, Rita's evil spell was smashed," Jason said. "That's when Tommy joined us for good."

"When we had Tommy the first time, we were almost unbeatable," Kim said. "We had the Command Center's communications back online, we had our full team in tact - which was really unbelievable at the time considering how brutal that war was - and we had someone off the bench who could provide us with more firepower than we ever had."

"What about you and Tommy?" Jen said. "How did you fall for Tommy anyways?"

"It was, truly, love at first sight," Tommy said. "I can't even begin to tell you. I was awkward and shy, having moved from Phoenix, and she was the ditzy cheerleader valley girl who everybody was chasing after. Do you know why we got back together a second time?"

"Why?" Chelsea said.

"It was because I broke her heart when I was the Evil Green Ranger. You couldn't even begin to know how heartbroken she was to know I was behind that mask," Tommy said. "If anything when she sent that letter, we were dead even. I knew I wasn't going to let her go that easy."

"Anyways, back to the story," Kim said. "Tommy lost his powers, but then got them back thanks to Zordon, and we continued to fend off Rita's attacks - even as she sent some pretty brutal stuff our way. But then came someone even worse."

"Zedd," Ernie said.

"You know it," Kim said. "That son of a bitch even tried to make me HIS bride at one point!"

"I can't even begin to picture you married to Lord Zedd," Chelsea said. "I've seen that mofo on TV news before back in the day. Man he was ugly!"

"Anyhow," Kim said, "because of Zedd, Tommy lost his Green powers for good. That was the first thing he set out to do."

"So that's why the Green Ranger pretty much left us," Ernie said. "Makes sense now. I remember Tommy being in a state of depression and needing to leave town until he got the White powers."

"White powers?" Lindsey said. "You mean that was his second color? That was the White Ranger?"

"Yeah," Tommy said. "Zordon knew we needed another body against Zedd. We needed six not five and that's where I came in. I don't think Zedd ever recovered from me coming back ... he thought he was rid of me."

"What you guys have to understand about Tommy and Rita and Zedd's hatred of him," Adam said, "is that he has foiled three times as many of their plans as the rest of us combined. I don't keep stats on that but if there were stats it probably would be 3 times as much."

"With Tommy as the White Ranger," Kim said, "we easily thwarted all of Zedd's attacks. One of those was the reason Rocky, Adam and Aisha came to us."

"Yeah, Zedd wanted his own warriors to combat the Rangers themselves," Adam said. "He very nearly had us too, until Tommy, Kim and Billy saved us."

"Now I remember!" Ernie said. "There was that Peace Conference and all!"

"Yep. That's how Trini, myself and Zack gave up their powers," Jason said, "and Rocky, Adam and Aisha got theirs."

"As we continued to beat up on Zedd, I almost think he just gave up," Kim said. "Even when Rocky, Adam and Aisha came in we could see that he was fading fast and that we were frustrating him. We beat him easily time, after time, after time."

"If Rita hadn't intervened, the battle may have been on a long, long hold," Rocky said. "But she married Zedd, and the battle picked right back up."

"Rita and Zedd married? Ewwwwww!" Chelsea said.

"You're telling me," Kim said. "But we continued to beat up on them soundly. Even when they were together, nothing they did worked."

"And that was when Rita's bumbling brother, Rito Revolto came in," Adam said. "Ernie, you remember the big bonehead, right?"

"You know, he did seem kind of like a dumb rascal," Ernie said. "Hard to believe he was Rita's brother."

"Well, he somehow found a way to destroy our battle machines - and powers - forcing us to go on a quest for new ones," Kim said. "Which led us to the Ninjazords. With those, we beat him back and simply continued to take care of business."

"Unfortunately, this was about the time where I came in," Kat said.

"Rita controlled her to separate me and Tommy, just like she'd done before WITH Tommy," Kim said. "But she broke her spell, saved me from ultimate disaster and when I went to Florida she took my spot on the team."

"Yeah and then came Master Vile," Tommy said. "I still say to this day he was the worst ever."

"I shall have to agree," Aisha said. "Because of him, we lost our powers and were turned into kids."

"Everyone was," Ernie said. "Oh, you guys, you took the brunt of our attacks just for us."

"Wait, we're not done," Kim said. "While they were on their quests, Aisha gave her ZEO crystal to Tanya."

"And then came the Machine Empire, and that's right about the time where Tanya and I fell for each other, though we didn't really start dating till we were both at USC," Adam said.

"Even against the Machine Empire, my letter, and Prince Gasket and Archerina," Kim said, "the Rangers and Tommy stood firm. And them came...Divatox..."

"Wait, what about Justin?" Lindsey said.

"I'll take that," Rocky said. "I hurt my back right around the time Divatox came and captured Jason and Kim to be sacrifices to awaken her future husband Maligore. Justin happened to overhear a conversation and that's how he became one of us. There was literally nobody else that we could take and we had to go with it on the fly."

"I learned a lot of my responsibility from being a Ranger, Lindsey," Justin said. "It's not fun and games and I should know. Most of you would dream of being where I'e been but you should all know it's not fun and games."

"I couldn't have picked a better boyfriend to have," Lindsey said.

"Anyways, the guys freed me and destroyed that ugly Maligore, which only frustrated Divatox all the more," Kim said.

"We did all right against her, but soon Dimitria could see that the wear and tear of these battles was getting to us," Tommy said.

"And that's where TJ, Carlos, Cassie and Ashley come in," Kim said.

"They selected us to be their replacements on the Turbo team," Ashley said. "But then something horrible happened."

"We'll take you out to see it sometime," Kim said, "but Divatox destroyed the Command Center ... well, then it was the Power Chamber. Thus, four of those five took off into space and met Andros. Justin stayed here and continued his schooling."

"Easily still the saddest day of my life," Justin said as Lindsey held him close.

"I think we can end that part of the story," Kim said, "because most of you remember four of those five revealing themselves to save the universe. The only thing I'll add is that all that evil, which was part of the United Alliance of Evil, was destroyed when Andros smashed Zordon's time warp. He was trapped in a time warp all the years we saw him."

"But what about Conner, Ethan, Trent and Kira?" Chelsea asked.

"Tommy was actually our paleontology teacher in high school," Conner said. "One day when we were in detention we stumbled - and yeah, that's pretty much the word to describe it - upon the Dino Gems, which were pretty much the same version of their Power Coins."

"Our enemy was Mesogog," Kira said. "Ugliest beast I've ever seen."

"It's between him and Zedd," Kim said. "I'd say they run neck and neck but Zedd gets the slight edge. Anyways, they defeated Mesogog just like we defeated our enemies - though I will say Trent became a part of their group much the same way that Tommy became a part of ours."

"That about cover it Kim?" Tommy said.

"Yep," Kim said. "Do you have any questions?"

"I don't think we do," Lindsey said. "I think we're all just in ... shock."

"The reason we didn't tell you is for two reasons," Kim said. "One is that when Zordon gave us these powers, he said we could never reveal our identities to the public otherwise we would lose our powers."

"And I think it was a good thing he did," Ernie said. "The public, quite frankly, couldn't be put at risk because of the Rangers revealing themselves to each other. It was best for them if they kept it secret - they had enough going on in their lives."

"Agreed," Kim said. "And, quite frankly, once we got into keeping it secret, it just became out of habit for us."

"We understand. And we promise to keep your secret," Jen said. "Right, girls?"

All of them nodded in unison.

"Now that that's over..." Rocky said. "LET'S GO BACK TO EATING!"

**End**


End file.
